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State interviews students whose teacher showed Disney movie with gay character

Investigators with the Florida Department of Education were at the school on Wednesday.

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — State officials on Wednesday were on the campus of the Hernando County school where a fifth-grade teacher played a Disney movie for students featuring a gay character.

The incident is now at the center of an ongoing investigation. District spokesperson Karen Jones confirmed to 10 Tampa Bay that investigators with the Florida Department of Education were at Winding Waters K-8 interviewing students whose teacher showed the film.

A letter was sent home to parents on Friday indicating the interviews would be happening, according to Jordan. She would not provide any additional information citing the ongoing investigation.

Jenna Barbee, who is in her first year teaching at the school, played the movie "Stange World" to her class. The PG-rated film includes mention of a gay character.

The story was first reported Sunday by the Tallahassee Democrat.

An investigation was launched after a school board member and parent, Shannon Rodriguez whose child is one of Barbee's students, reported the incident.

In a TikTok Barbee posted over the weekend, she said she thought she was following the rules, claiming she went through the proper method of approval and have parents sign permission slips.

"I was told by every teacher and mentor at our school that our method for approval by administration of showing movies was to have a signed parent permission slip for PG movies," Barbee said in the video. "I had that from the beginning of the year."

This comes amid heightened scrutiny over what is being discussed in Florida classrooms following the passage of the "Parental Rights in Education" law year, dubbed by critics as "Don’t Say Gay" because it prohibits classroom instruction on gender and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade. The governor on Wednesday signed into law a bill expanding the restrictions to eighth grade.

Critics have repeatedly said the law’s vague wording is worrying and putting teachers at risk.

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